Home / News / Urgent Appeals / UA-279-2006
 

August 24, 2006

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

25 August 2006

------------------------------------------------------
UA-279-2006: INDIA: Father and son illegally detained and tortured to a settle personal feud of the West Bengal Inspector General of Police [Intelligence Branch]

INDIA: Torture; threat; intimidation; illegal detention; impunity; collapse of rule of law
------------------------------------------------------

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal that a father and son were illegally detained and brutally tortured under the direction of the Inspector General of Police [Intelligence Branch] of the West Bengal State Police. Mr. Deepak Mahish and his father Mr. Sanyasi Mahish were arrested by the Inspector in Charge of Bantra police station, Howrah district on 23 August 2006. They were later released by about midnight on the same day. However, the victims and their family are scared that they will be again taken into custody and tortured.

Facts of the case

On 23 August 2006, Deepak and his father Sanyasi were arrested by Mr. Rabin Das, the Inspector in Charge of Bantra police station. It is alleged that they were arrested by the officer under the directions from Mr. Niraj Kumar Singh, the District Superintended of Police, Howrah who was trying to oblige his superior officer Mr. Sadan Mondal. Mondal is the Inspector General of Police [Intelligence Branch] of the West Bengal State Police.

It is alleged that after the arrest, Deepak and Sanyasi were taken to Bantra police station and were brutally tortured. Even though they were released by about midnight on the same day, a false charge under Section 290 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against them. This is the provision in the penal law of India for causing public nuisance, which is a petty offense.

Deepak is a businessman running a lathe machine. It is alleged that Mondal was not in good terms with Deepak due to some personal feud between the two. It is also alleged that while in custody the police officers intentionally damaged the SIM card of Deepak’s mobile telephone to destroy any possible evidence of communications between Deepak and Mondal’s family members.

The AHRC in the past has been raising alarm regarding the deteriorating law and order situation in India. Often the government of India and its provincial governments blame the low ranking police officers for breach of law and precipitating violence against ordinary people. However, as evident from this case in most cases such violence emanates from either dereliction of duty or willful misuse of authority by high-ranking police officers. In this case, Mondal is the Chief of the Intelligence Branch of the West Bengal State Police.

As the head of the intelligence branch, this officer is responsible for inquiring into allegations against police officers. His office is also responsible for investigations of crimes against national security. If the allegations are true and if the most superior among the police officers in the state has not only misused his office but also ordered to commit a crime of torture, to pacify his personal vendetta, the fate of ordinary people who face brutality on a daily basis from the police is imaginable. Incidents of this nature also throw light into why many cases of police atrocities are not investigated in India.

India has not ratified the United Nations International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Government of India has refrained from ratifying the Convention by arguing that the existing domestic laws are adequate to prevent torture and other inhuman treatment in the country. However, the reason why the law enforcement agencies in India are made least accountable for custodial violence is because torture is yet to be made a crime in India. This lacuna is exploited by the law enforcement agencies in India.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the relevant authorities listed below expressing your concern in this case by clicking here:

Suggested letter:

Dear ___________,

Re: INDIA: Father and son illegally detained and tortured to settle a personal feud of the West Bengal Inspector General of Police [Intelligence Branch]

Name of the victims:

1) Deepak Mahish, aged 22 years, son of Sanyasi Mahish, residing at Salap, Domjur, Howrah district, West Bengal

2) Sanyasi Mahish, residing at Salap, Domjur, Howrah district, West Bengal

Alleged perpetrators:

1) Mr. Sadan Mondal, Inspector General of Police [Intelligence Branch], West Bengal State Police

2) Mr. Niraj Kumar Singh, District Superintended of Police, Howrah, West Bengal

3) Mr. Rabin Das, Inspector in Charge, Bantra police station, Howrah, West Bengal

Place of occurrence: Bantra police station, Howrah district, West Bengal

Date of occurrence: 23 August 2006

I am shocked to know about the case of Deepak and Sanyasi who were arrested on 23 August 2006, by the Officer in Charge of Bantra police station, Howrah. I am informed that after arrest they were physically tortured at the police station and were later released by about midnight on the same day. I am also informed that a false case was registered against them under Section 290 of the Indian Penal Code.

I am informed that the arrest, detention and torture of Deepak and Sanyasi was under the direction of Mr. Sadan Mondal, the Inspector General of Police [Intelligence Branch], of the West Bengal State Police. I am also aware that there is an allegation against this officer that he had instructed his subordinate officers named above to arrest and torture the victims to settle his private feud with the victims. I am shocked to know that an officer of such high position misused his office not only to settle his private feud, but also that he ordered commission of the crime of torture against innocent persons.

I am also informed that the victims are now afraid that they will be again taken into custody and tortured by the police.

I therefore urge you to immediately inquire into this matter and take appropriate actions against the police officers named above. I also urge you that the officers named above be suspended from active service pending the inquiry in this case. If the officers are found to be guilty, they must be dismissed forthwith and prosecuted under law. I also urge you to take appropriate actions so that the victims are paid adequate compensation for the injuries they sustained in the incident.

I further urge you to take all possible actions to pressure the Government of India to ratify the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and to come up with a domestic legislation criminalising torture.

Sincerely

---------

Please send letters to:

1) Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
Chief Minister/ Minister of Home Department
Government of West Bengal
Writer's Building
Kolkata - 700 001
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 2214 5480/ 2214 1341
Email: cm@wb.gov.in

2. Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen
Chairperson
West Bengal Human Rights Commission
Bhabani Bhavan, Alipore
Kolkata - 700027
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 4797259 / 5558866
Fax: +91 33 4799633
Email: wbhrc@cal3.vsnl.net.in 

3. Mr. Justice A. S. Anand
Chairperson
The National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi -110001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 23074448
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in

4. The Chief Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings, Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 22144328
Email: chiefsec@wb.gov.in

5. The Home Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings, Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 22143001
Email: sechome@wb.gov.in

6. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 900

Thank you,
Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-279-2006
Countries :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.